Guild Wars 2 planning paid-for tournaments

PvP was one of the first Guild Wars' core features and it attracted a highly dedicated playerbase.

Microtransaction-driven paid tournaments and custom arenas will be bolstering Guild Wars 2's PvP offering in the near future according to developer Arenanet.

Entry to the paid tournaments will require players to buy a ticket from the in-game gem store for real-world money. The tournaments will be similar to the currently available free tournaments but without any matchmaking for incomplete teams and with more valuable rewards up for grabs.

Prizes will be granted to teams placing first all the way through to eighth, with the first prize including 180 gems, worth approximately £2 in real money. Tickets for paid tournaments can also be won in free tournaments or awarded when a player ranks up their PvP level.

Budding PvP teams will also be able to rent out customisable arenas to hone their abilities. These will allow players to control which maps they play on and who they play against with options to password protect their arena.

'We hear a lot of the things you’ve asked for and the truth is, a lot of the features you want will be added in the future,' said Guild Wars 2 systems designer Jonathan Sharp. 'Just because we don’t do everything you want, exactly when you want it, does not mean we aren’t listening.'

Sharp also mentioned that the PvP development team is considering how to implement important features including leaderboards, match streaming, larger tournaments and the option to spectate matches.

'We want to see eSports grow worldwide, and it’s a big part of how we think here at ArenaNet,' added Sharp.

Arenanet recently announced that the live development team for Guild Wars 2 would be eight times larger than the team that maintained its predecessor. The developer has split this down into separate teams handling areas of the game including fixing bugs, world and holiday-related events, its economy, and PvP.